1976 USC Trojans football team

1976 USC Trojans football
National champion (multiple selectors) Pac-8 champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 14–6 vs. Michigan
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
Record	11–1 (7–0 Pac-8)
Head coach	John Robinson (1st season)
Captains	Ricky Bell Vince Evans Eric Williams
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ←  1975 1977  →

1976 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 USC $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 15 UCLA	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
Stanford	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
California	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Oregon	1	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Oregon State	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. In their first year under head coach John Robinson, the Trojans compiled an 11–1 record (7–0 against conference opponents), won the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) championship, defeated Michigan in the 1977 Rose Bowl, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 386 to 139. ^[1] The team was ranked #2 in both the final AP Poll and the final UPI Coaches Poll.

Quarterback Vince Evans led the team in passing, completing 95 of 177 passes for 1,440 yards with ten touchdowns and six interceptions. Ricky Bell led the team in rushing with 280 carries for 1,433 yards and 14 touchdowns. Shelton Diggs led the team in receiving with 37 catches for 655 yards and eight touchdowns. ^[2]

The team was named national champion by Berryman, Billingsley MOV, DeVold, Dunkel, Football Research, and Matthews, all NCAA-designated major selectors. ^{[3] : 114}

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	Missouri *	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		L 25–46	49,535	[4]
September 18	at Oregon		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 53–0	40,600	[5]
September 25	at Purdue *	No. 19	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 31–13	65,425	[6]
October 2	Iowa *	No. 13	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 55–0	55,518	[7]
October 9	at Washington State	No. 11	Kingdome Seattle, WA		W 23–14	37,268	[8]
October 23	Oregon State	No. 7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 56–0	53,216	[9]
October 30	California	No. 4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 20–6	60,323	[10]
November 6	at Stanford	No. 4	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)		W 48–24	76,500	[11]
November 13	Washington	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 20–3	49,264	[12]
November 20	at No. 2 UCLA	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	W 24–14	90,519	[13]
November 27	No. 13 Notre Dame *	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	ABC	W 17–13	76,561	[14]
January 1, 1977	vs. No. 2 Michigan *	No. 3	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	W 14–6	106,182	[15]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

At Purdue

#19 USC Trojans (1–1) at Purdue Boilermakers (1–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
USC	7	0	14	10	31
Purdue	7	0	6	0	13

at Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana

• Date: September 25
• Game attendance: 65,425
• ^{[16] [17]}

Game information

First quarter USC – Mosi Tatupu 1-yard run (Glen Walker kick). USC 7–0. Drive: PUR – Scott Dierking 2-yard run (Turner kick). Tie 7–7. Drive: Second quarter No scoring Third quarter USC – Ricky Bell 5-yard run (Glen Walker kick). USC 14–7. Drive: USC – Simmrin 4-yard pass from Vince Evans (Glen Walker kick). USC 21–7. Drive: PUR – Skibinski 1-yard run (kick failed). USC 21–13. Drive: Fourth quarter USC – Mosi Tatupu 27-yard run (Glen Walker kick). USC 28–13. Drive: USC – Glen Walker 44-yard field goal. USC 31–13. Drive: Top passers USC – Vince Evans – 168 yards, TD PUR Top rushers USC – Ricky Bell – 37 rushes, 177 yards, TD PUR Top receivers USC PUR

At Washington State

#11 USC Trojans (3–1) at Washington State Cougars (1–3)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
USC	0	14	0	9	23
Washington State	0	7	0	7	14

at Kingdome, Seattle, Washington

• Date: October 9
• Game weather: Indoors (dome)
• Game attendance: 37,268
• ^[18]

Game information

First quarter No scoring Second quarter USC – Ricky Bell 1-yard run (Glen Walker kick). USC 7–0. Drive: USC – Shelton Diggs 55-yard pass from Vince Evans (Glen Walker kick, 6:23. USC 14–0. Drive: WSU – Harold Gillum 4-yard run (Chuck Diedrick kick). USC 14–7. Drive: Third quarter No scoring Fourth quarter WSU – Brian Kelly 23-yard pass from Jack Thompson (Chuck Diedrick kick). Tie 14–14. Drive: USC – Glen Walker 26-yard field goal, 9:26. USC 17–14. Drive: USC – Ricky Bell 9-yard run (kick failed). USC 23–14. Drive: Top passers USC WSU – Jack Thompson – 26/48, 341 yards, TD Top rushers USC – Ricky Bell – 51 rushes, 346 yards, 2 TD WSU Top receivers USC WSU

Notre Dame

#13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8–2) at #3 USC Trojans (9–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	0	0	0	13	13
USC	0	7	7	3	17

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

• Date: November 27
• Game attendance: 76,561
• TV: ABC
• Recap/Box

Game information

First quarter No scoring Second quarter USC – Shelton Diggs 6-yard pass from Rob Hertel (Glen Walker kick). USC 7–0. Drive: 10 plays, 67 yards. Third quarter USC – Randy Simmrin 63-yard pass from Vince Evans (Glen Walker kick), 13:30. USC 14–0. Drive: Fourth quarter ND – Vagas Ferguson 17-yard pass from Rusty Lisch (Dave Reeve kick), 14:06. USC 14–7. Drive: 4 plays, 68 yards. USC – Glen Walker 46-yard field goal. USC 17–7. Drive: ND – Rusty Lisch 1-yard run (two-point conversion failed). USC 17–13. Drive: 76 yards. Top passers ND USC – Vince Evans – 6/14, 106 yards, TD Top rushers ND USC – Ricky Bell – 21 rushes, 75 yards Top receivers ND USC – Randy Simmrin – 6 receptions, 121 yards, TD

Ricky Bell was held to 75 yards on 21 carries but USC's passing game thrived with Vince Evans completing six of his 14 passes for 106 yards with Randy Simmrin hauling in six passes for 121 yards and Evans' touchdown pass.

^[19]

Roster

1976 USC Trojans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 42 Ricky Bell Sr OL Gary Bethel OL Brad Budde RB 21 Lynn Cain Jr WR 26 Shelton Diggs Sr QB 8 Vince Evans Sr RB Dave Farmer TE 86 William Gay Jr QB 6 Rob Hertel Jr G 61 Donnie Hickman Sr RB Kurt Hollmer G 66 Pat Howell So RB Vic Jackson QB Paul McDonald TE Jim Obradovich OL Otis Page OL Marvin Powell WR Ken Randle WR Mike Robinson WR Randy Simmrin RB Bernard Tarver RB Mosi Tatupu RB 12 Charles White Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 44 Mike Burns Sr DB Ron Bush LB 58 Mario Celotto Jr LB 85 Garry Cobb So DT 92 Rich Dimler So DL Ed Gutierrez DB Carter Hartwig DT 79 Gary Jeter Sr DT 96 Myron Lapka So LB 57 David Lewis Sr LB 52 Rod Martin Sr LB 60 Clay Matthews Jr DB Ricky Odom DL Harold Steele DB Clint Strozier DB Dennis Thurman DL Walt Underwood DL Vinny Van Dyke DL Eric Williams	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K, P Glen Walker	Head coach John Robinson (1st year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2021-Jan-04

References

1. "Southern California Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
2. "1976 Southern California Trojans Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
3. 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
4. "USC beaten from here to Tampa, 46–25". The Los Angeles Times. September 12, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Aroused Trojans rip Ducks". Tri-City Herald. September 19, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Southern Cal downs Purdue". The Lima News. September 26, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Sub backs spark USC's rout". The Sunday Oregonian. October 3, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
8. "WSU scares USC, Bell sets record". The Columbian. October 10, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
9. "USC sends Oregon St. reeling, 56–0". The San Bernardino County Sun-Telegram. October 24, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
10. "No. 4 USC wins 20–6". The Billings Gazette. October 31, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "No Bell, but USC still ringer". The Sacramento Bee. November 7, 1976. Retrieved September 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
12. "USC defeats Huskies". The Columbian. November 14, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
13. "USC's power knocks out UCLA". The Daily Breeze. November 21, 1976. Retrieved September 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
14. "USC trips Irish 17–13". The Times Recorder. November 28, 1976. Retrieved September 12, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
15. "Evans' passing puts Michigan on the run". The Los Angeles Times. January 2, 1977. Retrieved September 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
16. Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Sep 26. Retrieved 2018-Sep-23.
17. "U.S.C. Crushes Purdue 31-13; Bell 177 yards." New York Times. 1976 Sep 26. Retrieved 2021-Jan-05.
18. "Bell runs for 346 as USC clips Cougars." Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 OCt 10. Retrieved 2018-Dec-29.
19. "Trojans Trip Up Error-Prone Irish". Ocala Star-Banner . November 28, 1976. Retrieved November 22, 2014.

External links

• Game program: USC vs. Washington State at Seattle – October 9, 1976